Wounded and Broken
by ShannonMay
Summary: Shauna Morris is a new girl at Spencer Academy. She moved to Ipswitch with her father who thinks that moving her away from home and placing her in private school will help heal her wounds but will it?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Covenant. I am simply putting forth some of my own ideas for fun. This is my thoughts on what might have happened after the battle with Chase.

Disclaimer: I do not own r the Covenant. I am simply putting forth some of my own ideas for fun. This is my thoughts on what might have happened after the battle with Chase.

Shauna Morris looked in her mirror for what had to be the millionth time in this one solitary morning. She wasn't vain in fact she was far from it. She did however have to make sure that she looked presentable before she left her new home to start a new school. This time her father was sending her to the exclusive Spencer Academy. Shauna gasped in air thinking of how the snobby rich kids would respond to her. She had never done well in dealing with others her own age. That was why they were here now, in the small town of Ipswitch, Massachusetts. She had ended up in the hospital when a group of girls had decided to start taunting her as they threw rocks and her. One of the girls had thrown a rather large one at the back of her head and when she fell they started kicking her. She still bore the marks from the whole ordeal nearly two weeks later. For that reason she was looking long and hard in the mirror to make sure that she had covered every bruise before going to school. She did not want the school to get the wrong idea and report her father for abuse which in fact she had suffered at someone else's hands.

Her chestnut brown hair was straightened and pulled back only by a vibrant red head band as it fell to her shoulders. Her hazel eyes were only accentuated by the lightest touch of mascara to curl the lashes making her eyes seem larger than they were. Her lipstick was a soft pink against her almost ivory skin. It was the one thing that she hated most her pale skin freckled and had several birth marks that she detested. Aside from that she did not feel that she unusually pretty or ugly. She would consider herself to be in the middle and that is where she wanted to be.

She was dressed in the typical Spencer uniform and it was cleaned and pressed for the day. She brushed her teeth and slipped on black ballet flats deciding leave her height at five foot even rather than risk heels at a new school that she did not know very well.

Shauna was finally satisfied that her bruises were sufficiently covered by tights, hair and her blazer. She could not be more grateful for the fact that the minor cuts on her face from the fall had healed somewhat quickly. She ran down to the kitchen grabbing a nonfat yogurt from the refrigerator for her breakfast and her messenger bag.

Shauna drove her red Toyota into the parking lot of Spencer Academy with almost no time to spare much to her dismay. She hurried out and grabbed her bag as quickly as she could without tripping and making a fool of herself. She was glancing down at her map quickly to locate where she needed to go for her first class when she felt someone literally run into her. Shauna fell thankfully this time on her bottom as she had been shoved to the side. The other person must not have even noticed because they hurried on and she was left to get herself up off of the ground. Thankfully, her messenger bag had managed to hold and none of her stuff was thrown about.

As she got up she noticed a boy standing about 5 feet from where she was. He had the most gorgeous blue eyes that she had ever seen. She also noticed that he was blushing somewhat furiously. As she stood he finally managed to speak, "I—I am s-so s-sorry about my friend, he really isn't that bad. He just is in enough trouble with our first Professor of the day as it is." With that the boy left, mostly likely to try and get to his own class.

Shauna finally found her way to her first period Honors English class with no time to spare entering as the bell rang. The teacher an older gentleman looked up and noted her appearance in the doorway. The Professor gestured for her to step forward and face the class. "Class we have a new student, please introduce yourself." Shauna hated being the center of attention and even more so she hated public speaking. "My name is Shauna Morris. I'm 17 and just moved here from Washington State."

The Professor nodded that her introduction was acceptable and then told her, "You can take the seat next to Mr. Simms and Mr. Garwin perhaps you'll be a stabilizing influence there. Mr. Simms please indicate to her where she can take a seat, thank you" With that done the Professor returned to his lecture and Shauna began the process of looking to find her seat.

Shauna looked and found the boy from earlier standing up indicating to her a seat in the first balcony of the room. Shauna slowly made her way to the seat by him. With that accomplished they both sat down and they began copying the contemporary literature list of books that they would need to read this term from up on the board at the front of the room. Shauna spent the remainder of the class taking notes as thoroughly and quickly as she could on the lecture.

When the bell rang Shauna found her way to her second class Honors Biology and was dismayed to find that she was paired with a rather talkative blond for a lab partner. The girl who introduced herself as Sarah would probably come to hate her once she started to get to know her and then it would begin. It always happened eventually. The girls would start to hate her existence and then the taunting would start and eventually the full fledged bullying would begin. Finally, the bell rang and she made her way to Latin which was thankfully one of her better classes. She could handle translating and scribing all day long if she wanted too. She noticed the same boy from earlier with blue eyes and brown hair sitting in the front of the class. She made a point of sitting as far away from him as possible although she was not sure why.

When it came time for lunch she found her way out to the courtyard where she would eat her yogurt in peace and listen to her ipod and try and relax a little before she had to go to her next class which was dance. She would then be able to finish out her day in civics. Shauna heard the bell which was obnoxiously loud over her music and made her way to the studio for her dance class. She had loved dancing ever since she was 3 years old. She had been in classical ballet and lyrical lessons ever since then and she doubted that she would be learning much new but it would be a good chance to work out and stretch her muscles and for that she was grateful.

She noticed the blond girl, Sarah standing against the bars when she entered along with a mocha skinned girl who appeared to be rather tall for a girl their age. "Shauna, over hear", she heard Sarah call. Slowly like she was performing a funeral march Shauna walked over to them. "Shauna this is Kate; Kate this is Shauna", Sarah introduced once she had made her way over there. It would be a long class and Shauna knew it. Sarah was obviously not going to let her keep to herself as she would prefer.

The instructor walked in and swiftly put on some old school music and told them to begin warming up. Grateful for the interruption Shauna swiftly began her routine which had been ingrained in her for as long as she could remember. With ease Shauna flowed into the steps as the rest of the class practiced and learned them. The instructor seemed surprised and pleased by how well she preformed the steps and how tight she kept the form of each movement. Praising her precision she called her out as an example to the other girls once again placing her in the center of attention. Shauna blushed hoping that she would not be stuck working as a teaching aid here now that the instructor saw her skill level. She would rather have this time to relax and destress. That was what dance had been for her since she could even consider herself learned in the art. The teacher called her over at the end of class and asked her to consider tutoring Sarah. Shauna knew that she did not have much choice so she nodded her agreement and hurried to get out of there so that she could change and get to her next class.

In Civics the boy Garwin, as she had heard teacher refer to him was already there seated apparently next to the only vacant seat in the class. Shauna groaned inwardly as she realized that she had taken to long in cleaning up and getting here that she had no other choices. She took the only available seat and prayed that he would not feel the need to talk to her. Luck was not on her side though.

The blond turned to her and smirked," I don't think I was ever given the opportunity to properly introduce myself, I'm Garwin, Reid Garwin." The boy's intense blue eyes stunned Shauna for moment and then shaking herself out of her daze she cursed herself for getting into this situation. She was not a fan of talking to people that she did not know especially she knew that they would only hate her later on. She watched as his smirk started to fall the longer that she took to respond.

Shauna knew enough not to be impolite and turned to him, "I'm Shauna Morris." The boy smirked once again at her very pleased with himself apparently with having gained her attention. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the front of the room as the Professor began the days lecture on the first amendment of the Constitution.

Shauna scribbled notes furiously as she knew that standards here would be high and if she wanted to make marks like she usually did she would have to work harder than ever. This class would not be easy and she knew it. A lot of it would hinge on argument and debate in this class. This was not something that Shauna was comfortable with but she knew that she would have to do in order to keep from failing. The first amendment encompassed more than any of the others too. That made it even more important to take notes than probably during the rest of the lectures during this class. At five till 3 the Professor stopped his lecture and everyone began to put their supplies away. The bell rang and Shauna made her way to her car never noticing that a pair of blue eyes was watching her all the way to the parking lot.

[A/n: This was my first attempt at writing an OC. Please, tell me what you think of it so far. If you guys don't like I may not continue it. I had to try though as this has been playing in my mind all week.]


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Covenant. I am simply putting forth some of my own ideas for fun. This is my thoughts on what might have happened after the battle with Chase.

Tyler Simms lay on his bed with his pillow covering his head trying to make it not so obvious that he was crying. It was too bad for him that he sucked at acting. So the instant his best friend and roommate entered the room rather noisily one might add his mood was very apparent. The blond came and sat at the edge of the bed and showed his support by saying, "Come on Baby Boy whatever happened it can't be all that bad." Knowing that he did not have much of a choice Tyler sat up and put the pillow down. His best friend was not known for his sensitivity to others and that did not help in this case at all. However, if Reid was willing to try and listen he might as well try.

Tyler's voice was almost to soft to hear as it came out, "You wouldn't understand Reid. Today, I humiliated myself in front of the girl of my dreams. Again you ran because you can't receive another detention from Whitmore with out actually failing the course. You ran into a girl and she fell. Normally, I just say a swift apology for you and help them up if I need to and then hurry away. Today though, as I looked to see who it was I found myself face to face with the most gorgeous woman ever created. I ended up stammering and I haven't done that since we were 8. Then of course she ends up in our class and is sent to sit next to me. I just know that I must have seemed like an idiot. I know that any chance I may have stood was blown the instant that I opened my mouth."

Reid rolled his eyes at his younger brother. "You have always seen the worst in yourself. I swear you are the only one who notices your flaws. She probably forgot about that as soon as she walked into class." Tyler sighed; he could only hope that Reid was right this time. Only in that instance could he picture Shauna being able to bear his presence. If that was the case then perhaps he could simply worship her from a far. The two had known each other too long for the conversation to end that way though. Reid looked him in the eye and said, "Don't you even dare think about giving up, Baby Boy. If this is your dream girl then go after her."

Once Reid got off of the bed Tyler got to work trying to think of different ways in which he might be able to try to impress and woo his first ever love interest. There were always the traditional routes: flowers, poetry and candy. There were more expensive items like: perfume, jewelry and such. He shook his head and knew that he was indeed a lost cause. He had no idea what would appeal to woman like Shauna. He needed help and lots of it.

Later that night at Nicky's Tyler sat down at their usual table attempting to eat something after a rather long game of pool against Aaron Abbot. He was just starting to eat his burger when Reid joined them. "You'll never believe it Baby Boy has his first crush. It's about time too." This drew the attention of Caleb and Pogue as well as their girlfriends. This of course only served to make the youngest more than a little uncomfortable. He was never the center of attention and for the most part prefered it that way.

As to be expected Kate squealed, "Really?" Knowing that lying never worked for him all that Tyler could do was nod his head in the affirmative and blush horribly. The others were never going to let him forget this or let him live it down. It would not be too long until the girls got to scheming once they found out who it was. Kate and Sarah had made it thier personal mission once Chase was gone to try and find a girl for Tyler much to his dismay.

"Who is it", Sarah asked? This had her curiosity more than a little picqued. Every girl that they knew had never caught Tyler's attention. The youngest son seemed to be extrodinarily picky as to whom he would like. After several months of trying to get him to agree to let them set up him up with some classmate or other they had given up. That had been a relief to Tyler who had effectively had a valid reason for not agreeing thier schemes in his mind. He wanted to find someone on his own and she would have to be very special indeed.

Reid chuckled, "It's that new girl Shauna." Tyler looked up to actually see Caleb and Pogue nodding approvingly at his choice. This stunned him as he had wondered what the others would think. It made him feel a little easier knowing that perhaps this would go down smoother than he had thought.

Sarah and Kate finally responding, "She seems nice, a little on the quiet side but nice. She's also a really talented dancer. She's in class with us and makes it seem so easy." This did not help Tyler at all. In his mind it was yet another reason for him not to pursue her. Tyler Simms had never bothered with learning to dance and was pretty sure that he had two left feet. That was when it came to social dancing like here at Nicky's. Now, Kate and Sarah were telling him that this girl was likely a trained Ballerina.

This time it was Caleb who caught the look on Tyler's face. It was one that he was familiar with. The youngest was often too hard on him self and seemed to frequently be discouraging to himself. So Caleb sent a warning look to the others. It was time that someone took a hand in helping Tyler get the girl. The eldest knew that it was time that they supported Tyler for a change instead of the other way around. All to often Tyler went with the flow of things rarely raising a comment or objection to anything. If ever something was needed Tyler was the first to get to work on it. It was time that he recieved something back. Friendship should not be one sided and he found himself realizing that it had been for a while.

Reid must have been using to follow Caleb's train of thought because what followed out of his mouth was, "Kate, Sarah you're girls right?" "Thank you captain obvious", Kate snapped in reply. It was Caleb's turn to smirk as Reid got read the riot act by Kate. Finally stepping in Caleb said, "I think what Reid meant is that maybe you could help Tyler understand what he could do to try and impress Shauna." The girls nodded as they began to work on a plan whispering to each other what sorts of things they thought that Shauna might be into. This only served to make Tyler more nervous. He could not afford to mess up again in trying to approach her. If he was going to do this it would have to be done perfectly or he would stand no chance at all and he would not try to pursue a girl again.

Meanwhile Shauna was home finally and working hard on her homework. She had her ipod plugged into the home cube that she had bought for it sometime ago. It was not so fun trying to write an essay on the Shinning. She hated blood, gore and horror. She was more into classical novels and she read the occasional best seller. She preferred the romantic era of literature and loved to lose herself in the worlds of Austen and Bronte. She could handle reading Tolstoy but preferred idealism to realism. If you wanted realism then you could just watch people on the streets or so Shauna thought.

Realizing that she needed to take a break she wandered down to the kitchen and got an apple and diet soda out of the refrigerator. She loved the peace and quiet of the time she had before her father got home. It allowed her to think and sometimes that was good and sometimes it wasn't. Today she found her thoughts going to the boy whom she had met that morning. She felt so horrible about the way that things had gone. In fact she was pretty sure that she had been more than a little rude to him then and then again in English. He had seemed nice enough and well mannered. He had seemed to simply be nervous and she knew her own somewhat curt behavior must not have helped.

When her father came home she prepared and easy soup and salad meal and then went back to working on her essay for English. It would not be an easy class she could tell that already. They had a very strict timeline as to when each of the books needed to be finished. This would increase Shauna's own anxieties since school was not really her favorite place to be. It was not that she lacked in smarts. She had been an honors student with a 3.3-3.5 GPA consistently since she started school. It was just that she struggled socially. Other girls had never really treated her nicely and she had never understood why. Finally, managing to finish the essay she turned her music on to some more old school rather than classical. It was time for her to stretch out a little and maybe get herself relaxed enough to actually sleep tonight.

In the morning, Shauna decided that she would find the boy; the teachers had called Simms and apologize to him. To her that seemed the right thing to do and maybe, just maybe she will have made a new friend. So, Shauna got herself ready for school just as she had the day before and headed off to Spencer Academy. There was a problem with that theory though it meant that he had to show up. She waited outside of the English building and did not see him come in at all. So, with five minutes left until class started she went into take her seat feeling very bad about the fact that she had missed her chance to apologize.

Shauna did her best to stay focused and take notes in English and Biology to some avail. She finally made her way out to lunch in the court yard again which did not go as well as before. She found herself face to face with Garwin as he flashed her a smile and asked to barrow her notes from English. Rolling her eyes Shauna pulled out her English notebook. She didn't quite know why but she felt the need to tell him that she needed it back the following day and remind him that their essays on the Shinning were due today.

In dance she went over to talk to Sarah and Kate before the teacher came in. As she started to stretch she asked them, "I was trying to find someone earlier before school in order to apologize but I wasn't able too. Maybe do either of you know a guy the teachers said his last name is Simms?" As she leaned down to complete the stretch yet again she missed the smiles on the faces of both girls.

Finally Kate said, "Tyler Simms, his room is 319." As class went on the only other time they talked was when she set up a tutoring schedule with Sarah so that they could plan her lessons. This made Sarah a little nervous. She had never had a teacher suggest that she get tutoring before and this was not her idea of how to spend an evening. She agreed to the situation though knowing that she could use the help the other girl offered.

As everyone left Shauna made her way to Civics hoping to get her notebook back. Then she would go and talk to Tyler. As she waited for class to start she found herself trying the name out and found that she liked it a lot. Even more confusing was that she was considering the sir name with her own given name. Shauna had to shake herself out of her thoughts before she got herself into a lot of trouble.

[A/n: This was my first attempt at writing an OC. Please, tell me what you think of it so far. If you guys don't like I may not continue it. I had to try though as this has been playing in my mind all week.]


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Covenant. I am simply putting forth some of my own ideas for fun. This is my thoughts on what might have happened after the battle with Chase.

Tyler had been so racked with nerves that for the first time ever he actually skipped school. He hated that he was letting this happen to himself he knew that it was natural at least supposedly. It had to do being in the presence of a female that you find attractive. You just have to try and keep your cool and be yourself so that they can get to know you. That much Caleb had discussed with him as they drove back to Spencer last night. The only problem that Tyler had with that theory is that was that he wasn't sure how he could do that when he felt like he was ready to fall to the floor from turning to jelly and having butterflies in his stomach. Tyler knew that he would have to go back to school soon but he was not sure what he could do to make it a smoother transition than he knew it would be.

He was laying on his bed trying to figure out a way to smooth out his return to class the following morning when he heard a knock at his door. He knew that it was none of the guys because they were all at swim practice right now. That being the case he decided not to open the door. Whomever it was they could find Reid later.

Meanwhile, Shauna stood out in the hall feeling a little awkward and nervous herself. Finally, she decided that she would leave a note and hope that Tyler received it. Pulling out a piece of paper Shauna went straight to work.

Tyler,

I came by to try and apologize for my rather rude and curt behavior yesterday. I was a little nervous and flustered about starting school and getting knocked down was not the ideal way to start. That is no excuse. I should have responded better and been polite enough to introduce myself. I am not normally so rude and hope that you can accept my apology.

I hope that with time we can get to know each other and become friends.

Warmest wishes,

Shauna May Morris

She took the time fold the note precisely and pulls out her tape to close the note. After writing Tyler's name on the front of the note she pushed it underneath the door. It was not going to be fun to wait and see if he even got her message but that was all that Shauna could really do at this point. It was time to go back to the comfortable house that her father had bought when they moved here and try and do some homework. Tonight would be a Latin translation and more reading, and then she would have to do some work for a debate coming up in Civics. She groaned to herself as she made her way home thinking about the homework load that she had to attempt to get through tonight.

As Shauna tried to focus on her homework but found it nearly impossible to do so. Her thoughts kept coming back to how ridiculous her own behavior had been with the first person she actually got to meet on campus. She couldn't help thinking back and wondering if her social awkwardness was not the reason that the other girls had never accepted her at her previous school.

Shauna found herself drifting to sleep in the middle of reading the novel "the HELP". As she began to drift she returned to Washington and was sitting in her old English classroom at her old school.

_She is such a loser, seriously it is no wonder that she has not been asked to Homecoming yet. Shauna turned around to look behind her to find the distinctive image of Lindsay Montgomery. Her light brown locks falling effortlessly into place and her make up completely flawless. As always Lindsay wore the latest and most expensive clothes. A beautiful cotton v-neck sweater cut low to barely hint at cleavage and low rise blue jeans from Abercrombie. She had gathered several of her friends around her to make this class a regular torture session. Another girl this one named Amanda added, seriously, anyone who'd rather spend time with books than people probably has some serious issues. She can't even do her make up right, came yet another voice, this one belonging to Kim Andersen. A third chimed in, I've heard that she was sent away to an institution because she is insane. Shauna tried to tune out the conversation that would not even be the worst of it. She watched as the bell rang and the girls followed her out into the court yard and to the cafeteria. There she found a few moments rest with her two close friends both of them good at standing up for her when the harassment got too bad. After lunch Shauna went to her next class and was consistently annoyed by getting hit on by the most greasy, slimy and disgusting guy in school. When she finally left for the day she went to get on her bus and only got off and find those same girls behind her calling out the most horrible things. Then it started, they ran after her as Shauna tried to run and squeeze through the smallest hole in the fence by the church that was at the dead end of her street. Shauna tried to get through having thrown her back pack over seconds before. _

Shauna woke up with a start; sweaty and gasping for breath. When she woke up it took her time to get a grip on her surroundings. She wasn't in the rule, suburbia area in an unincorporated territory in Washington State anymore. She had left all of those people far behind and would not have to necessarily face them again. Lindsay and those girls who had turned the entire school to taunting and teasing her were clear on the other side of the country she reminded herself.

Reid Garwin entered the room with his usual noisy style after swim practice. Tyler still laid out on the bed trying to figure out how to best avoid Shauna the next day. Therefore it was Reid who noticed that there was a note on the floor he picked it up initially assuming that it was for him only to be surprised that it had Tyler's name on the front. Placing the note on Tyler's desk he said, "Well I have some interesting information for you. It would seem your girl is as obsessed with taking precise notes as you are. I barrowed her notes for English and so you can thank me later for that. I also got a look at her essay on the Shining and it seems that she didn't enjoy it at all." That brought a smirk to Reid's face he always enjoyed it when someone gave a rather strong opinion on something it made for a fun argument. Placing the notebook on Tyler's computer desk he turned and looked at his best friend. "Now what you need is a night out." That done Reid practically dragged his best friend out the door and into the Hummer to go to Nicky's.

At Nicky's that night Tyler sat really quietly not even remotely interested in playing pool or messing around with Aaron and his cronies for some easy money. As the evening progressed along as it normally did it Sarah who finally spoke to him. "Did Shauna make it by to talk to you earlier?" That caught Tyler's attention quickly. With eye brows raised he couldn't help asking, "Why would she?" Kate laughed, "She asked us if we knew you and wanted to apologize for yesterday. We gave her your dorm number." Tyler's head snapped up at the thought of his girl coming up to see him. He shook his heard to clear it of that thought quickly and reminded himself that Kate had mentioned that she had wanted to apologize. She was polite and that would be the only reason she came by.

As the evening finally ended Tyler drove back to the dorms with Reid in the passenger seat. Once they were back at the dorms Tyler decided to try and at least copy the notes that Reid had barrowed for him. In that process he also noticed the note sitting there with his name on it. "What is this, Reid?" His brother looked up from the magazine that he was flipping through and saw what Tyler was holding. "Oh yeah, I found that on the floor earlier. It looked like someone pushed that under the door."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the Covenant. I am simply putting forth some of my own ideas for fun. This is my thoughts on what might have happened after the battle with Chase.

Tyler examined the neatly folded note and the handwriting on the front. He slowly slipped his finger along the edge to open the note and was stunned by what he read. The note was brief and concise and it said all that Tyler needed to know. He got up from the chair he had previously occupied at his desk and groaned as he went to lay back down on his bed. Reid's head snapped up as he realized that Tyler was on his bed groaning like he was in pain. Reid wanting to know what so bad that it had Tyler reacting like that again decided to walk over to the desk and read the note for himself.

Upon reading it for his own information Reid chuckled, "this is perfect Baby Boy. She wants to get to know you. Just try and let her get to know you." Tyler who had rolled over on his side was now rolling his eyes at the blond. "Reid, finish reading things before you comment on them. She is not interested. She wants to get to know each other over time and maybe we can become friends. 'Friends' of course happens to be the optimal word there." Suddenly Reid understood what Tyler's problem was. It was that Shauna had used the word 'friends' and Tyler wanted to be more than friends. Reid rolled his eyes at his brother's girly tendencies with his feelings. It was one of the reasons why they teasingly called him Baby Boy.

Realizing that he was about to cross a frail line soon even with Tyler Reid sighed, "Dude you can win her over if you let her get to see and know the real you. It starts with letting her know that you're not a jerk and responding to her note. She obviously wanted to talk to you earlier, but someone never opened the door."

That caused the youngest to blush knowing that his best friend had a fair point. If he wanted anything to happen it would have to start with responding to her polite note to him. Tyler was not too happy with himself for stubbornly refusing to open the door to Shauna earlier. If anything he felt like an idiot for not taking the opportunity to make a decent impression. Then again he reminded himself he had not known that she was going to be coming by. Smiling once more the youngest got up and decided to sit down at his desk to work on a note of his own.

When the clock struck the next hour Tyler was still struggling to compose a decent start to note. Tyler Simms typically a neat freak had actually been so engrossed in his task that he did not notice that the floor was now littered with his miserably failed attempts. He did not relish seeing how Shauna would respond to his note knowing that it would take an unusual amount of guts for him to write it; let alone give the note to her. Flirting with girls and laying it on thick was Reid's specialty and a gift that he had inherited from his father. Tyler looked over at his sleeping brother and threw pillow at the edge of his bed at the blond sons' head. This woke Reid up with a long string of curses coming from the older boy.

The only thing that saved Tyler from what he was sure would have been a rather painful chewing out was that he must have looked abnormally pathetic. The blond rather than ripping him a new one came over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What can I do to help Baby Boy?" Tyler looked up at his brother grateful for the help.

Reid looked at his most recent failed attempt and smirked. "Your old man certainly never taught you anything about talking to girls. Rule number one is flattery will get you everywhere. The next thing that you need to know is that too much too soon is never a good thing. It will scare her off. I recommend that you keep it simple and let her know that you are sorry to that you did not have a great first chance to meet and go from there. I'd also suggest that you say that you're sorry for not being able to talk to her this afternoon and invite her to sit with us at lunch."

Tyler smiled, he could see where Reid was going with this and he was happy for the help. Reid was correct about the fact that his father had not taught him about how to talk to girls. As a matter of fact his father pretty much wanted nothing to do with him. Aside from teaching him how to use his powers and the rules it had pretty much been him and his mom. That made learning a lot of things rather difficult. For that reason Tyler had never really bothered with looking at girls let alone talking to them. He was fairly certain they would not find him at all pleasing to make his self-conscious nature worse.

Tyler went back to work on composing the note to the affect that Reid had suggested. He also smiled at the thought of Shauna seeing him in a situation where he would be much more comfortable. He would not be one on one with her and she would see him among his brothers where he could more easily be himself. He had to hope that maybe just maybe she would feel comfortable around them all as well.

It was late Shauna could not sleep at all. She was not one to have trouble sleeping normally. Shauna had gotten so used to the tension in her body that she could normally sleep no mater what the situation. Tonight though was not like most. Shauna hated unresolved situations but knew that there was nothing further that she could do. She would have to wait and see if he even responded to her note.

The following morning Shauna woke up to annoying shriek of her alarm clock and looked at the time. It was 5 o'clock and she had only gotten a total of maybe an hour of sleep. She got up and proceeded to get ready for school. Today she took a little more time than normal straightening her hair so that it had a soft sheen to it. She pulled her hair back from her face with a purple headband and applied her make up carefully so that the bruises would not be evident. Today Shauna felt bold and pulled on a pair of classic black pumps with pointy toes. She had to smile at her appearance once she was done. Seeing the time she went and grabbed her bag and keys and headed on her way to school.

When she arrived at Spencer Shauna had just enough time to go into the cafeteria and grab some coffee and maybe spend sometime reading before class. As Shauna approached the line she found that she was standing right behind Tyler and couldn't help smiling. She had started to reach out and tap him on the shoulder to let him know that she was there so that they could talk but thought better of it. After all, this conversation has to go two ways and it's his turn to either accept or reject my apology.

As they approached the front of the line she watched as he ordered coffee with 3 creamers and 4 sugars and had to hold back a giggle. Shauna had grown accustomed to the "need "for coffee as most people in the Pacific Northwest do growing up. The result was that she drank her coffee almost black. She was so immersed in considering this information that she didn't even notice when Tyler slid a ten to the girl behind the counter telling her that he was going to pay for Shauna's coffee as well.

She stepped forward and ordered and ordered her coffee and had only one packet of sugar added. As she went to pay the girl working behind the coffee stand smiled. "You can keep your money. It's already been paid for." Shauna mumbled a polite "thank you" before going and taking a seat at an empty table not far from the boys sat at their usual place.

Shauna pulled out the book that she was currently reading for English and began to work on the rather tedious task of reading yet another twentieth century novel. This one entitled "Pillars of the Earth". She liked the basic plot well enough but was again not fond of the story. Partial to romantic literature she knew that the class would drag on for her and she found herself wishing that she could be in British Literature instead. With a sigh she forced herself to concentrate on the story.

It jolted her out of her daze when someone grabbed the book out of her hand. She found herself face to face with a curly haired boy with light brown hair and pale skin. Not wishing to be rude but unhappy about the rude manner in which the boy had gone about getting her attention she finally snapped, "Hi, did you need something?" She hated that she came off so harsh but she got the feeling that it didn't matter where this boy was concerned. Sure enough she was right the boy smirked and responded hardly missing a beat, "I just thought that I'd introduce myself to such a lovely, young lady. My name is Aaron" and as the boy went to kiss her she was saved only by the shrieking of the bell. Taking the opportunity to leave Shauna ran all the way to English and thanked whoever handled the bells here for the awesome timing.

If she would have looked back she would have seen five very intense sets of eyes following her on her way out one of which had started out solid black. Reid Garwin had not liked it when he saw Aaron start to make a play for the lady he already thought of as 'Tyler's girl' and had set the bell off when no one was looking. They knew what Aaron could be like and knew that he was up to she same thing that he did every time he took notice of a girl. Rather than watch Shauna struggle to get out of a bad situation he decided to provide her with an out. If she took it then he knew that it would make his best friend a lot more comfortable.

Shauna may not have known it but she had just started the process of gaining a ticket to the inner circle. By not flirting and throwing herself at them she had shown class and restraint something that placed her high in the eyes of the sons. By walking away even going so far as to leave her book with Aaron to get away when given the chance she had proven her worth. Only one question remained in their minds; could she handle the secret? It was that question that still held Tyler in check. His 18th birthday was only weeks away and they still did not know what had happened with Chase. The guy had disappeared and no body had ever been found. Tyler knew that he was being stupid but he still couldn't help but worry. There was a skill that his line possessed that the others did not. So, it meant little in his mind that nothing had occurred on Pogue or Reid's birthdays. With the threat still looming ahead could he risk putting Shauna in the same sort of situation that Sarah had been in? Could he risk her getting hurt like Kate had been? These were questions that he would have to answer before he made a serious move.


End file.
